Steven McDonald

General Counsel

Providence, Rhode Island UNITED STATES

Biography

Steven J. McDonald is General Counsel at Rhode Island School of Design and previously served as Associate Legal Counsel at The Ohio State University. He has handled a number of Internet-related legal matters, ranging from alleged infringements of copyrighted materials on student web pages to investigations of computer break-ins to an e-mail death threat to Socks the cat. He began his legal career in private practice at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, where he represented CompuServe in Cubby v. CompuServe, the first online libel case, and he also has taught courses in Internet law at Ohio State's College of Law and at Capital University Law School. He is a Fellow and past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and is the editor of NACUAs The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: A Legal Compendium. In State, ex rel. Thomas v. The Ohio State University, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that he really is a lawyer. He received his A.B. from Duke University and his J.D. from The Yale Law School.

"Recent campus incidents have highlighted the importance of effective communication among administrators, faculty, and staff, as well as between campus representatives and students, families, and surrounding communities.